Women, you can shave your face too

I shave my face. You heard it right. I shave my face.

Whoever told you that you couldn’t shave your face was clearly living the age-old fallacy of “your hair grows thicker and pokier if you shave.” I along with a truck load of women around the world are here to vouch that there’s no truth to this old school esthetician tale. This is yet another way to add a sex/gender based differentiation to consumerism. We’re also fed this tidbit that ‘shaving is bad for women.’ Because, well, the salon people want our money. So if they were to lose their customers to a razor, lord help the chocolate waxes that’ll die a solitary death.

Depilatory creams burn your skin. Waxing and threading leave you wincing in pain. What other options are women (who want to remove hair) left with? Laser hair removal treatments? Well, they’re too expensive and not everybody can afford them. And this is where we come in, with an easy peasy formula that gets a bad rep but is truly a life and time saver.

I pick up that razor and with three downward swipes, I bid my moustache goodbye. You’re probably visualising me looking in the mirror with my dad’s razor in hand and some shaving cream on my face. Errrr, that is actually not the case. I don’t always need a shaving cream! Softening the peach fuzz I have growing on my upper lip with water also does the trick. I do what any woman would do when they’re shaving their legs; soften-swipe-moisturise and voila, you’re ab fab! While you can also use the regular shaver, there are also razors that are meant for a less heavy duty kind of facial shaving. The ones that work best are single edged and have a single blade. When shaving your face, hold your razor at a 45 degree angle. Then simply swipe downwards and sideways to get rid of unwanted eyebrow hair, upper lip hair, jawline hair and anything else that comes in between of you and your comfort.

When I was 20, I came across a cosmetologist who casually mentioned that she shaves her face. And there I went, googling and YouTubing How-To videos on women who did the same. I was flooded with information on the net about beautiful women (including Michelle Money and other famous models) who take part in this practice and shun the myths away.

I remember saying to myself. If gorgeous women like these are doing it, then why can’t I? What’s the harm? And soon, I learnt about how shaving is actually good for your skin because it gets rid of the dead skin and acts like an exfoliator. Your makeup sits better, your skin glows, I can go on and on. I also learnt that a lot of spas practice dermaplanning, which is just a fancier option that helps you take off your dead skin with a razor and leaves you with a gorgeous glow. Did I mention that it’s also one of the anti-aging anthems that’s making the waves these days.

So go ahead. Give it a shot. I promise it won’t make your hair grow back thick and pokey.